Not a Meteor, the Bright Object in Lampung is Confirmed to be Space Debris

The object of the falling object in Lampung which is suspected of being a meteor (photo: IG @wargatangsel via BRIN website)

JAKARTA - The public is being shocked by a bright object that crossed the Lampung and Banten skies on Saturday, April 4 at night. This object was suspected of being a meteor that fell.

However, the allegation was immediately denied by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). The institution confirmed that the object seen by residents and widely shared on social media was space debris.

The garbage is known to come from the remains of the Chinese CZ-3B rocket. The phenomenon seen by a number of residents is the de-orbit process or re-entering the Earth's atmosphere so that the object looks very bright.

The debris was traveling at high speed and experiencing friction with the air. This process caused the rocket body to burn and break into several parts before finally disappearing in the sky.

"When entering the increasingly dense atmosphere, the object burns and breaks, so it looks like a light fragment," said BRIN Astronomy and Astrophysics Senior Expert Researcher Thomas Djamaluddin, quoted from the official BRIN website on Monday, April 6.

Based on data from Space-Track and orbit analysis from Thomas, the rocket debris was launched from India towards the Indian Ocean west of Sumatra. At 19.56 WIB, the object's altitude dropped drastically below 120 kilometers.

At this altitude, the air resistance increases sharply, triggering high heat that destroys the rocket's metal structure. Most of the material is estimated to have burned out, while the rest is estimated to have fallen in forest areas or marine waters.

Thomas said that the event of the fall of space debris that can be witnessed directly in Indonesia is a rare event. Although this phenomenon often occurs globally, the last time this clear appearance was seen in Lampung in 2022.

Until now, there have been no reports of property damage or human injury due to this falling object. However, Thomas believes that the possibility of this rocket endangering the community is very small because generally the debris that passes through the atmosphere will burn out.